I hope everyone is enjoying their legendary St. Joseph's Day cream puffs! (Visit Catholic Cuisine for what seems like an "official" recipe -- if you're in the mood for baking today!)

I just wanted to drop in and say a quick "hello" because I am starting a new course in school today and much homework awaits.

There is an official update on Huckleberry's kittens: She had six, not four. And all of them, including mom, are healthy. (To think that only a few months ago, I had three cats. Now I have twelve........)

I leave you with a recent photo of Huckleberry, followed by my favorite little "Huckleberry" song that I do indeed sing to her! Have a a great St. Joseph's Day, wherever you are!! Thanks for visiting.




MOON RIVER

Moon river, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way

Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me

(Moon river, wider than a mile)
(I'm crossin' you in style some day)
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way

Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after that same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me
c- Mercer/Mancini

You know how your life can get so overloaded that you can't handle another thing?

At 2 AM, I was lurched awake by everything that is going on in my world that I can just barely handle, including an overloaded schedule, people I don't understand anymore & perhaps never did, checks that are due that continue to NOT arrive, kittens that need to be taken to the vet to get fixed but I can't do it yet because checks continue to not arrive, a house that desperately needs cleaning but it seems I have no time or energy these days so teh chaos piles up -- stuff like that. Making me crazy. Making it so that I cannot sleep through the night yet again.

Just when I felt like everything possible was out of control, at 4:30 this morning, one of the stray kittens I rescued at Christmas, my beloved Huckleberry, gave birth to 4 kittens and I did not even know she was pregnant.

I am about to seriously lose my mind.

But I thank God that Huck is okay and all the kittens appear to be healthy and fine. At times like this, you just have to look at the reasons to praise God and hang on.

Happy St. Paddy's Day, everybody!! Enjoy!

[From Darby O'Gill and the Little People]

Yes, it is almost time for the Feast Day of our beloved St. Paddy, the patron saint of Ireland...

Here I am last year, looking bonny as all get out! Perhaps this year will be a wee bit more of the same!

Pope Francis I (An auspicious sign, I think! He's probably been reading my blog!)


(thanks Jeffrey Alan F. !!)

No, I am not going to turn this blog into a celebration of the Saints and their various Feast Days, but I still need to just say this one thing: Today is the Feast Day of Blessed Agnello of Pisa. He was of the Franciscan Order and was admitted into the Order by St. Francis of Assisi himself -- so, naturally, since St. Francis is one of my very favorite Saints, that caught my eye and I eagerly read all about Blessed Agnello of Pisa.

This was the part I loved best: Blessed Agnello's "zeal for poverty". Wow, a man after my own heart!! I certainly have learned how to have a zeal for poverty, God knows.

To be honest, though, I do find the premise of true Christian poverty remarkable and, as I have studied it more, I find it really comforting. Of course, there is a HUGE difference in the type of poverty St. Francis and St. Clare adhered to, and the kind I have lived with for the last few years. Theirs concerned making vows that their lives would be entirely in the Lord's keeping and so they didn't need to own anything. Whereas, mine has come from trying to maintain a house I can't afford, while simultaneously loving the house and being wholly unwilling to sell it. Sort of, "holy" poverty vs. "wholly" impoverished.

For those of you who are not-so-loyal readers of this lofty blog (oh, let's put a better spin on that and call you "the newly arrived to this lofty blog"), the Universe came up with an ingenious plan to take care of my poverty problem once and for all: If you can't afford it and yet you won't sell it, we'll simply return it the proverbial Dust whence it came. Yes. The city is re-zoning my street for commercial use and will be demolishing the house I love. Problem solved. And, as these things go, they're giving me adequate compensation for taking my house, my yard, my many trees and flowers, out from under me.

Even while this whole scenario breaks my heart, I am finally able to get some rest at night -- for the first time in many years, to be honest.

And that's where this whole "vow of poverty" idea becomes really attractive to me. No, I don't want to not own anything. I am just so looking forward to the peace of mind that comes from not owing anything. I barely remember what that feels like, gang. But it is on its way to me.

On another topic... This pertains to the subject heading of this post today. [I will give you a moment to scroll back up and read it.] One of my client's had a chocolate lab that I just adored. His name was Sweet Pea and he and I got along famously. We really did. Whenever I would go over to their house, Sweet Pea and I would be inseparable. He followed every move I made. (Not the easiest thing to do in a small house with a huge dog!) I just loved him and I paid a lot of attention to him. Sweeet Pea was really old, however. And two weeks ago, when I last saw him, I got the profound impression that he wasn't going to be with us much longer. I didn't tell his owner that, but I sensed it. Even though Sweet Pea was in fine health and great spirits and seemed just exactly like he always did, I sensed it wouldn't be long. And I told myself, "Oh no, I don't want to still be living around here when he goes because it will break my heart." And I just gave him a lot of love that day.

I am supposed to be working for that client again tomorrow. That client wrote to me last night to tell me that Sweet Pea had died the other day, out of the blue. I was so sad, but also there was that bittersweet joy that I had taken extra time playing with him the last time I saw him, because I was thinking of his mortality.

In a way, it's what I'm feeling about this house. I know my days in it are numbered, and that its days on Earth are numbered, so I am just trying to take in every moment. All the daffodils are coming up. Some other little flowers have already bloomed -- even though we have another dusting of snow out there this morning. The robins have returned. There is a cardinal in my backyard who sings me awake every morning. I try to just take it all in and not think about the bulldozers that will be coming. Making that effort to find the joy in the fleeting moments. Just allow the joy. Feel gratitude. And accept change.

All right. Well. My final week in Bible Study Methods is upon me, and this week focuses on becoming a teaching minister, making my first lesson plan for bible study; being real as opposed to just thinking about being real. An interesting week.

Okay. I am not going to say "Happy Hump Day," (but if you watched that David Bowie video I posted a couple weeks ago, wasn't that so ironic that he said "happy hump day"???!!!) I'll just say, Happy Wednesday. I hope it's a good one, gang, wherever you are. Take a moment to cherish stuff today, okay? When we consciously cherish the moments, transition is easier. And I guarantee you, transition comes, in all sorts of ways. Thanks for visiting, gang! See ya.

[Not Sweet Pea, but close! Stay frisky, sweetheart. Onward.]

Do you get those daily emails from the HARO (Help A Reporter Out) PR and Marketing list? I do. I had 2 nanoseconds left in my daily schedule so I thought, Hey! Why not sign up for yet another e-list and read some more emails?

This morning, there was a listing on HARO that caught my eye because I love to bake. A newspaper was looking for a specific cream puff recipe. It was one of those things where punctuation really would have helped a lot. I thought it said that they wanted recipes for cream puffs that were filled with face cream! A type of face cream made by the brand name of "St. Josephs." YUCK. But au contraire! What they were looking for were recipes for special cream puffs to serve on St. Joseph's Day:

Saint Josephs Day Cream Puffs.

Since you already know that I am a bit on the indulgent and obsessed side when it comes to face cream, you can see why my brain zeroed in on "day cream" and not on "Saint Josephs Day". What a difference a lone little apostrophe would have made, right gang??

(BTW, here is where your knowledge of Feast Days for all the Saints now comes in handy!! The Feast Day for St. Joseph, as I know you know, is on March 19th. However, this Feast Day is often wildly overshadowed by our much more favorite Saint, Patrick!! Whose Feast Day is, of course, March 17th!! And right around the corner, to boot!! Yippee ki yi yay!!) (Another "BTW"... while I heartily enjoy the excuse to drink one Guinness and watch Darby O'Gill and the Little People on St. Patrick's Day, my actual favorite Saint is St. Francis, but he runs neck and neck in my esteem with St. Clare. And I consider St. Paul to simply be in a league of his own, without whom there probably wouldn't be all these other thousands of saints, frankly.)

Okay, anyway...

Do you suffer from free-floating anxiety, stress, dread, and a pervasive sense of doom -- and all before you even get out of bed in the morning??!! Wow, I sure do!! Honestly, I go through MUCH pep-talking in order to change my outlook before I toss back those covers and allow my feet to hit the floor every morning. My life is rarely a day at the beach, or a walk in the park, or a trip to the moon on gossamer wings! (It is, however, always, without fail, a cliche!!)

In my never-ending search for clarity and peace of mind while drinking my cup of green tea in the morning, I was blessed today by stumbling upon Joyce Meyer on the TV at 6 AM, and she brought to my attention Proverbs 15:15 and I was so bowled over by its resonance that I wanted to share it with you:

"All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast."

Isn't that cool, gang?? I don't know about you, but I'm taking that Proverb with me today and clinging to it.

Before I close, I wanted to give you some most welcome news: We will soon be blessed with a double-dose of gorgeousness! Yay!! Yes, it was announced the other day that the (in my opinion) really beautiful Rebecca Hall is going to be starring with the often indescribably beautiful Johnny Depp in his upcoming movie, Transcendence. I am really looking forward to this movie, gang. With what little they've released about the plot -- I think it is going to be awesome. And a little scary. Not quite as scary as how old I'm going to be when it finally hits the theaters, but that's another endless topic for which there is no known cure...

Okay, I gotta scoot. Homework awaits, as it usually does. But I really think this is going to be a spectacular day, gang, for all of us. I really do!! So let's hang in there and enjoy the feast! Thanks for visiting, see ya!

[I am just so freakin' glad my waitressing days are long behind me!! -- Ed.]

I grew up in Cleveland, where we never once did not go to school because of weather. It just never would have occurred to us: Weather??!! In Cleveland, we had nothing but weather. So we always simply bundled up and merrily trekked off to school.

Today is a snow day around here. There is, literally, less than 2 inches of snow on the ground. I can readily see my front walk and my driveway through the light gauze of "snow", and the school across the street is closed. Awesome. I am so jealous. Being self-employed, if I decided to take a snow day today, I wouldn't make any money. I would love to get back in my jammies, curl up in bed, eat some sort of piping hot cinnamon roll soaking with melted butter, have a perfect cup of piping hot cafe au lait, watch an old re-run of Perry Mason -- take a snow day. Not do homework, even.

I did the next best thing, though. While sitting listlessly at my computer with a cup of weak green tea that's getting cold and staring blankly at the reading assignment open in front of me -- I discovered that I can take thermal photographs of myself and post them to my blog!!! Who knew??!!

This is me thermalized just now! Wow, right??!!



I look pretty good in thermal, don't you think? Even my bedroom looks good in thermal. I wonder if the Earth of the future is going to include ways for people to walk around, looking thermal. They will probably get way more dates...

Well, fun as it's been to be thermal, I do have to go out and work today, so I must get something that resembles at least a little bit of homework done this morning. I'm not completely convinced it's gonna happen, but I do have to get off this computer and give it the "old college try," as they say.

Have a happy snow day, gang, wherever you are! (And trust me, if it ain't snowin' at all where you're at, that's about as much snow as we have here...) Okay. Time to hit the tundra, gang. See ya!

[Cleveland in winter -- no lie!!]

For 1 month only!!

Two of my novels are completely FREE!!

                      
 
For the month of March, you can download Twilight of the Immortal or Freak Parade (or both) absolutely for free.

All I ask in return is that if you like the books, please review them online. If you review them on Amazon Kindle, please state that you received the eBook as a gift. (That part is important, gang. We don't want people thinking I hired you to review me on Amazon.)

You must download these eBooks through Smashwords.com. They have formats that support any e-reader you own. And you must use the following CODES:

Twilight of the Immortal: VQ93K

Freak Parade: RY42Z

A word of advice:

Twilight of the Immortal is historical fiction about Hollywood in the Silent Era. It is scandalous, racy, romantic, and tragic, but it is not erotic. (The links will take you to summaries of each book.)

Freak Parade, on the other hand, is literary erotica. It won the Silver Medal in the Independent Publishers Awards for 2011. However. It is sexually graphic, includes drug use, some violence, as well as some violent sex. It is intended for adults.

If you choose to download either of these novels and you like them, you can pass them along to friends for free!! However, please remember to review the books online, and ask anyone you forward the books to, to do the same. Thanks, gang!!

Okay!! Joyousness. What a word!! Who knew that the spell check wouldn't start peeling out a million bells and whistles at that word?? And yet, it did not, so it must be a bona fide word. (Although it does still insist that "bona fide" is/are not (a) word(s).)

Yes. Punctuation. I got a million of 'em...

I am having the best day. I might even go so far as to say that I am having the best life -- you know, really go out on a limb! Yet absolutely everything does seem to be going great. Even stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with me (yes, there are things out there that have nothing to do with me, strange as that may seem). I look around at everything and I see greatness. Yes, I do.

I had a ton of homework over the weekend, gang. 3 papers that I had to write on Saturday, alone. (The "alone" referring to "Saturday," but it could equally refer to the fact that I wrote all three papers "alone.") And by early this morning, my professor had already graded everything and his comments were: "Excellent work!" That makes me feel so much joyousness. I am now only taking courses related to my major, which is pastoral ministry. Coming from my widely far-flung and super non-conformist background to the traditional Christian ministry... well, to be doing excellent work in Bible Study Methods (which teaches me how best to teach others how to effectively study both the Old and New Testaments) is just really joyful for me. A joyful thing.

And speaking of joyful, traditional, and non-conformity... I am reading a great eBook right now, written by a colleague -- Wayne  Hatford, the man who wrote two great books that channeled Rudolph Valentino's essence. The book I'm currently reading, Letters from Janice: Correspondence with the Astral Plane, was the first book Wayne wrote that was channeled through someone else. (In this instance, a close friend of his named Janice who had recently died.) It is now available as an eBook. What an exhilarating book, gang. If you are at all interested in the stuff you are going to be doing once you're dead, you should read this!

Okay, I am being a  little silly. However, if you are a student of metaphysical thought, believe in an after life, or (as the Gnostic Christians believed) that the "after life" is actually the "LIFE" and that physical reality is more a training ground for utilizing the powers of thought, will, and desire, then you will really enjoy Wayne's book. I highly recommend it.

Back to more traditional stuff. I am not a Catholic and don't anticipate ever being one, nevertheless, I really enjoy learning about the Feast Days of the Saints. (I was born on the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, the Patron Saint of Women, on July 22nd, which I find indescribably auspicious, frankly). So I signed up for the "Saints of the Day" email list from the Catholic church. Every morning, I find out whose Feast Day it is, and why that Saint is considered a saint, and I find out a little bit about that Saint's life. (I only read about the main Saint, because each day actually has about a zillion Saints.)

Today is the Feast Day of St. Casimir, the Patron Saint of Poland and Lithuania. He lived from 1461- 1484. Yes, he died when he was 23. He was the son of a King -- an heir to the throne -- and he was not at all happy about that. He wore plain clothes instead of his princely clothes, and slept on the floor beside his royal bed instead of in it. But he was intensely devout and devoted to God. And this is the part that really intrigued me -- he was buried with the sheet music to his favorite hymn, Omni Die Dic Mariae (known in English as Daily, Daily Sing to Mary).

I don't know, I just find that really poignant, that a 23 year-old Polish Prince-turned-Saint died 529 years ago, at age 23, and was buried with the lyrics to his favorite hymn.

Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to share this lovely hymn with you on this joyous Monday morning!! While we listen to it, let's think about that fleeting saintly life of St. Casimir! Have a terrific day, gang! And thanks for visiting.